We’re only three days away from the deadline for claiming charitable donations so here are three tips you can use to help maximize donations from procrastinating donors.
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[dropcap]1[/dropcap]Text Message: this is one of my favorites; according to IRS Publication 526, Charitable Contributions > When to Deduct > Text Message “Contributions made by text message are deductible in the year you send the text message if the contribution is charged to your telephone or wireless account.” If you don’t already have a text based donation platform up and running, it is unlikely you’ll get that done in time but if you have one laying around you haven’t used in a while, now is the perfect time.
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[dropcap]2[/dropcap]Use Autofill Forms: prepopulating forms to reduce the amount of time it takes to submit an online donation is only going to do good things for conversion rates. It just so happens we have an article written by ArtsHacker Marc van Bree about some skills you can put to good use in order to make that happen.
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[dropcap]3[/dropcap]Make Online Donations Click-Click-Done Simple: this tip may not be what some folks want to hear but if you require donors to register an account before they can complete the donation process, you’re leaving giant piles of money on the table. Think of it like this: if you were soliciting donations on the street, would you require each passersby donor to fill out a form before you’ll take the money you can see in their outstretched hand? Right. Ideally, the donation process should take as few steps and page loads as possible. If you can fit your entire online donation process on a single page and get to the transaction confirmation in less than two minutes, you’re in the hero’s circle. If not, then you now have a goal; ask your web developer for help.
- Update: Google recently released a mobile design best practices document that reinforces the need for providing a guest checkout process: “Offer the option to check out as a guest, and encourage registration with tangible benefits.” Check out page 20 for the full content.
- But wait, there’s more: this item has been examined by ArtsHackers Joe Patti (article) and Sarah Marczynski (article) so given all the attention, it’s probably a smart move to make this happen today if possible.
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Do you have any additional high-value ROI tips to share with readers?
